MARCH 22, 2001  TUESDAY We spent a very comfortable night at the Villa Fiorito.  I draped all of my riding clothes around the roomshorts, socks, gloves, shirt, jacket, shoesto try to get them dry, but in the morning my bike shoes were still soaking wet, and so were my gloves.  We dressed and packed and had our breakfast, and then we put together our bike trailers and stowed our duffel bags.

We had one packing problem, however.  Don had purchased a nice straw hat that he brought along from home.  But, where to pack it?  He couldnt stuff it into his trailer without crushing it, he couldnt fit it in his handlebar bag.  It wasnt practical to strap it on top of his camera bag.  So, he asked the proprietor of the Villa Fiorito if he might have some string, and got the Italian hands Im not able to help, what can I do sign.  So, finally Don went around to the back of the building and got a piece of scrap electrical wire and used this to attach his straw hat on top of his helmet.  He looked like one of those Panamanian Indians who wear all of their hats stacked up on their heads to show how wealthy they are.  My two-hat man.  Once we solved the hat problem we were off again.

We had a bit more climbing up to the summit, about 850 meters, and then a big downhill coast into Foligno.  On the outskirts of Foligno a nice policeman gave us a suggested route around the town, and we followed the nice, quiet old highway right around the city and on to Spello.  In case I havent mentioned it, I hate riding my bike in cities, especially European cities, where the streets tend to be narrow and full of hazards, and the drivers tend to be in a big hurry, squeezing their car into any available space, bicycles in that space dont count.  So, I am always happy when we dont have to ride our bikes right into the centro.

While I was waiting a little old Italian lady with a cane came hobbling down a steep side street.  She saw me with my bike and trailer, and came up to me and started talking a mile a minute.  I tried to tell her I didnt understand Italian, but she went on and on, asking questions, pointing and motioning to me and the bike and the trailer.  Trying to be cooperative, I showed her some of the features of my bike, told her where I live, where we rode our bikes from, opened my trailer to show what was inside.  She seemed quite excited and kept on talking and talking, and making motions of water coming down, rain I thought.  So, I agreed, yes, it had rained yesterday and we did ride in it.

From Spello we continued along the old road to the little town of Santa Maria della Angeli.  Here we found a nice Camere(room for rent), just down the hill from Assisi.  After checking in and cleaning up a bit, we took our bikes and set out to explore.  We rode up the little side road near our room, and it turned out to be the secret back entrance to Assisi.

 

We stopped at the Piazza di Santa Chiara, and wanted to go into the church there, but it was closed for restoration.  Then we rode up to the main square and took a look at the Roman Temple of Minerva, which dates from the first century.  This is where the Order of the Poor Clares was founded.  Saint Clare was a buddy of Saint Francis of Assisi.  (Our regular bike ride in the Los Altos hills goes by the convent of the Poor Clares.)  From there we went on down the hill to the Basilica di San Francesco.  Saint Francis of Assisi is buried here, and we visited the crypt which houses his tomb.  The walls and ceilings of this church are decorated with frescoes by Giotto, Lorenzetti and Martini.  The frescoes on the main floor tell the story of San Francescos life.  One wall tells the story of how San Francesco was told to repair Gods church.  Under the main church is another church, and the paintings there tell about the life of Christ.

 

We liked our accommodations so much we decided to stay another day.  Signora Carloni was delighted.  Our living quarters are quite nice.  The Carlonis have a mini-motel.  There are 6 units, detached from their house, and very new.  We have a kitchen/living room with a tv and a large bedroom and a bathroom.  We have found that in Italy we always get a large bed, at least queen size and usually king size.  This is different than France, where the large bed was always a double.  So, we are sleeping quite comfortably.

 

We decided to ride our bikes to Spoleto and take the train back for the days activity.  We set off on the little country roads and made our way south along the edge of the hills.  We stopped for lunch in Bevagna, and then decided we would not be able to make it to Spoleto in time for the train at 1pm.  So instead we rode our bikes up to the top of another hill to the town of Montefalco.  Once more, we had exceptional views.  I guess I really cant say exceptional views anymore, because it seems like every city we go to is on top of a hill and has wonderful vistas.

 

The ride back to Assisi seemed to take forever and we had a headwind, but we finally made it back to our room and enjoyed our showers immensely.  Grandma stopped by our room and gave us fresh cherries and peas.  We made arrangements to stay another night at the Carlonis, and went into town for dinner at a nice restaurant.

MAY 24, THURSDAY We got up early and caught the 7am train to Spoleto.   We arrived at about 8am, and strolled up the hill from the station.  We stopped at a paticceria for coffee and a pastry, then continued up, and up, and up, and up to the fortress at the top of the hill.  We walked across an ancient aquaduct, which is still used to supply water to the city, and then visited the church, which has the crypt of San Bernardino, and quite a bit of artwork by Giotti and Martini.

Don wanted to see the old Roman Forum, so we walked around and around and up and down the hill, trying to find it.  Finally, I had to go to the bathroom so bad, and I couldnt find a clean one, so we decided to go to the Archeology Museum.  (Travel hint:  when you cant find a public bathroom, the few dollars admission to a museum will usually give you access to a good, clean bathroom).  Well, this was a lucky thing, because inside the museum what did we find?  Well, yes, a nice clean bathroom, but we also found the ruins of the Roman Forum.  We never would have found it from the street.